Road Construction: Warning, RANTING

[zerocool84]

Try living in the LA area, the most cars on the road anywhere in the country, and tons of road construction, lane closures galore, total freeway closures, you just deal with it.

 

[Via]

Try living in the LA area, the most cars on the road anywhere in the country, and tons of road construction, lane closures galore, total freeway closures, you just deal with it.

I think most people understand the need for road construction. Hell, I deal with it every time I go to Chicago.

How it's being managed these days is what's making my head explode.

 

[irishScott]

Reguarding detours, there's this new invention, I think it's called a.. oh what was it? Mop? Makp? Maaaaap?

I hear they even have crazy ones on the internets that can show you traffic conditions! For free!

 

[who?]

They may be the lowest bidder but they still have to meet standards. If they build a highway for Arkansas and they use the wrong size gravel in the concrete the state doesn't have to pay them anything, they gave their work to the state.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Oh tell me about it. The main drag near my house gets closed every single year since I moved in this area, and it was also closed even before that. It's probably on like 7 years now. Every year they dig it up, then pave it again. This project also involves shutting off the power to change the poles.

They've dug it up, replaced all the pipes, repaved. Every single year they do that. Somebody is getting rich at the expense of tax payers for this particular perpetual project. This year they did not dig it up for as long though, but another section was and still is just gravel.

 

[Jeff7]

They may be the lowest bidder but they still have to meet standards. If they build a highway for Arkansas and they use the wrong size gravel in the concrete the state doesn't have to pay them anything, they gave their work to the state.

Nice.
I expected that the usual procedure with that sort of thing was for the government to pay them to rip it all out, and then pay them to do it again.

 

[SSSnail]

Because unions, brah. When you're guaranteed a job no matter the performance, you can do whatever the fuck you want and that includes doing fuck all to look like you're doing something.

 

[Jeff7]

Because unions, brah. When you're guaranteed a job no matter the performance, you can do whatever the fuck you want and that includes doing fuck all to look like you're doing something.

Corrupt or decadent unions, anyway.
Want to keep employers from abusing workers? Fine. Good. I do rather like things like paid time off, weekends, and a reasonable expectation of safety.
Guaranteeing someone their job, no matter what happens, isn't what should be expected, though it looks like that's what we've ended up with.

 

[skyking]

Go fuck yourself with your union digs. You don't know shit when it comes to the heavy construction trades. Either we perform or we are canned. Period.
There are no slacker operators on the highway, and what they are doing is exactly what was scheduled to do. Management, including State and Federal agencies as well as contractor management are responsible for running the job. They are the ones who choose to close 4 miles of a lane and then only work for the last mile, or not pull in the barrels as we work past an area.
EDIT:
Not you Jeff, you got a post in before me.

 

[SSSnail]

LOL, yeah, ok. There's a construction project near my work that they've been working on for years now. Basically, they'd dig up the road, do some shits, pave it, dig it up again a few weeks later, do some shits, pave it shittily, dig it up again in a few weeks, do some other shits, etc... I may not know shit about heavy constructions, but I know what I see is just pure shit.

Every time I walk by, there are about 2 guys actually doing something, there are at least three others standing by looking at them, couple other sitting around doing god knows what, and don't forget the sign guys - very important.

Aren't all the idiots in Caltrans in a union? So that tells you the competency level. No, you don't need to block miles worth of roads to work on 200 feet of it. A good example is the Grapevines, they've been "fixing" that shit since the last ice age. Takes an average 1.5 hours to move pass that fucking piece of work.

You'd understand the resentment that people have for unions folk if you are at least half honest, so FUCK YOU. I don't really need to dig any deep to find all sort of fucked up unions tactics of holding the public hostage, an example is the idiotic caltrain unions.

I'm a tax payer, I have no special interests representing me, I'm outvote every time I go to the voting booth. Just about every "public servant" in the government is in a union, and they're all looking to fleece me, the tax payer, without regards. This is how I vent, deal with it.

 

[skyking]

You think those "3 other guys" are in some union? Like I said before, you don't know shit. I have all sorts of state and federal inspectors doing just that. Everybody had to wear hard hats and reflective gear, so that won't help YOU figure out who is who.
Blame management for everything about where, when, how it gets done. The hourly people just do what they are told.

 

[shortylickens]

I still believe most construction is milked to justify the insane costs. And its not by the workers either, its the fat lazy white rich cocksuckers that have under the table deals with greedy evil city councilmen.

 

[Jeff7]

Go fuck yourself with your union digs. You don't know shit when it comes to the heavy construction trades. Either we perform or we are canned. Period.
There are no slacker operators on the highway, and what they are doing is exactly what was scheduled to do. Management, including State and Federal agencies as well as contractor management are responsible for running the job. They are the ones who choose to close 4 miles of a lane and then only work for the last mile, or not pull in the barrels as we work past an area.
EDIT:
Not you Jeff, you got a post in before me.

If I may ask... do you know why they do that sort of thing?

On my trips across the state, I'm on I-80 for 240 miles, and may pass through as many as 40 miles of construction, of which only one zone might have any workers on it at all.

You think those "3 other guys" are in some union? Like I said before, you don't know shit. I have all sorts of state and federal inspectors doing just that. Everybody had to wear hard hats and reflective gear, so that won't help YOU figure out who is who.
Blame management for everything about where, when, how it gets done. The hourly people just do what they are told.

Good points. I've been at some job sites (parking garages) where they require anyone on-site to wear a hardhat and safety vest, even if you're not going to be operating any dangerous equipment. ("Some" job sites, only because not all are under active construction at the time; some are older facilities that are undergoing minor renovations.)
And indeed, the job of some of them is likely to stand there and watch - and make sure it's being done correctly.

 

[olds]

Go fuck yourself with your union digs. You don't know shit ...

You could have stopped right there.

 

[lxskllr]

I don't know how things work in California, but over here things are done to schedule, and breaking schedule means losing money. Aside from tying up people and machines, they sometimes lose money by contract when a project isn't completed on time. Conversely, they sometimes get bonuses for finishing quicker. That usually gets done on high priority/impact projects. IOW, there's no good reason to make a job last longer than it should. It pretty much always leads to losing money.

 

[olds]

If I may ask... do you know why they do that sort of thing?

...

http://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/htm/2009/part6/part6_toc.htm

 

[LTC8K6]

I was stationed at Ft Eustis Va for a year and a half. One section of a road just off post was torn up and repaved 3 times in that year and a half. Everyone wondered why. Rumors were that it was union "makework".

 

[skyking]

Jeff, the traffic control crews are usually pretty small. If we work past an area and they open it back up, only to have to re-close it so we can go back for something, it can be a disaster and dangerous. If they got burned in the past with jumping the gun, they will likely not do that again.
The watching inspectors can drive me crazy. I'll have a couple more folks I have to watch out for. Usually they get the clue, but sometimes they can't seem to keep out of my way. I do a lot of "education".

 

[MistaFreeze]

Let me guess, you're affected by the I-35 resurfacing from the split to Lakeville?

Us being SW of the Cities, not only is that an obstacle for us but the work being done on 169 is also a major pain in the ass.

I feel your pain, OP.

I'm actually talking about 694 heading eastbound. Oh god, 169 was a complete shit fest and still is if it's still getting worked on.

 

[Zodiark1593]

Since 1924, 180 California Department of Transportation employees have been killed on the job.
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/paffairs/about/safety.htm

How many people have been killed on the job in your industry?

http://quickmap.dot.ca.gov
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/maint/msrsubmit

I'm going to assume you're aiming at the comment about the dividers, in which case:

This infernal contraption is what I meant by divider (apparently they're called Medians)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Rockmedian.jpg


What the workers are building is a permanent median at a left turn lane (the road in question is 5 lanes wide, 2 per side, 1 center). The median curves so as to cap off the turn lane. Problem is that the street often receives high traffic, and the lane itself is only a single lane, with the median in place, that turn lane only extend 60-70 feet. When it overflows, cars that want to turn would have to wait in the main lane, badly impeding traffic.

Also, I don't hate on the workers, I hate on the state/city/municipal who decide to build pointless garbage.

 

[shortylickens]

I was stationed at Ft Eustis Va for a year and a half. One section of a road just off post was torn up and repaved 3 times in that year and a half. Everyone wondered why. Rumors were that it was union "makework".

Bases are different. I know for fact they are trying to justify their fat military contracts. Its especially bad in Virginia cuz lots of politicians live here as well as many lobbyists.